5185 Alerossi

5185 Alerossi (provisional designation 1990 RV₂) is a background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) in diameter. It was discovered on 15 September 1990, by American astronomer Henry Holt at Palomar Observatory in California, United States.^[1] The asteroid was later named for Italian geodesist Alessandro Rossi.^[2]

5185 Alerossi

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	H. E. Holt
Discovery site	Palomar Obs.
Discovery date	15 September 1990
Designations
MPC designation	(5185) Alerossi
Named after	Alessandro Rossi (Italian geodesist)[2]
Alternative designations	1990 RV2 · 1933 SE 1955 SM · 1981 RA1 1984 HG · 1986 UR4 1988 FQ3
Minor planet category	main-belt[1][3] · (middle) background[4][5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	84.34 yr (30,804 d)
Aphelion	2.8993 AU
Perihelion	2.4533 AU
Semi-major axis	2.6763 AU
Eccentricity	0.0833
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.38 yr (1,599 d)
Mean anomaly	34.812°
Mean motion	0° 13m 30.36s / day
Inclination	8.3787°
Longitude of ascending node	216.42°
Argument of perihelion	216.46°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	12.86±1.2 km[6][4] 13.36±0.12 km[7]
Geometric albedo	0.081±0.009[7] 0.1408±0.031[6]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.6[1][3]

Orbit and classification

Alerossi is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.^[4][5] It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.5–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,599 days; semi-major axis of 2.68 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.^[3]

In 1933, it was first observed as 1933 SE at Uccle Observatory, extending the body's observation arc by 57 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.^[1]

Naming

This minor planet was named after Italian geodesists Alessandro Rossi (born 1964), a member of the "Group of Satellite Flight Dynamics" at the Istituto CNECE in Pisa, Italy. Expert in space geodesy and participant in the Laser Geodynamics Satellites (LAGEOS) mission, he examines Earth's artificial orbital debris, the natural debris around mission targets to improve space-craft maneuvers, and the potential hazard of Earth-crossers.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 28 July 1999 (M.P.C. 61268).^[8]

Physical characteristics

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Alerossi measures 12.9 and 13.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.08 and 0.14, respectively.^[6][7] It has an absolute magnitude of 12.6.^[1][3] As of 2018, the asteroid's spectral type, rotation period and shape remain unknown.^[3][9]